Tag: Supply Chain Management

When we first started this work (in Ethiopia) about seven years ago, when customers came to a warehouse in search of their medicines, the pharmacist had to run down to the warehouse to check if they had an item (it took too long to find the stock card). Now they can access the data the same way as my Walgreens pharmacist can. And they can look to see if the stock is available at any of the other warehouses (even if the nearest location might be a day away).

Since 2012, 24.4 million more women and girls are accessing modern contraception, bringing the total to 290.6 million users in the 69 FP2020 focus countries. Yet as we take time to celebrate these gains for women and girls, we know that there are still places in the world where a woman’s choice to use those contraceptives is not a given. As of 2015, 10 million fewer women and girls have been reached with lifesaving contraception than we had hoped by this time. Continuing at this pace means that millions of women and girls will not receive the family planning services and supplies they need to support their fundamental right to make decisions about their reproductive health. JSI’s Leslie Patykewich looks at the gains that have been made in ensuring women and girls have access to contraceptive information, services and supplies, and ways to address the barriers that are still faced.

In order to prevent stockouts, program managers, analysts, and advocates must understand when and where stockouts are occurring. This can happen most effectively when stockouts are reported in a consistent way.

The latest WHO guidelines on when to start antiretroviral therapy and on pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention could have major implications for people living with HIV and those at greatest risk for contracting the virus. JSI’s Samson Kironde, Director of the AIDSFree project explains that in order to realize the guidelines’ potential, global investments must be made to overcome the remaining challenges to ending the HIV epidemic.

JSI’s Walter Proper, Director of the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT Public Task Order, explains why developing a strong, committed supply chain workforce and establishing supply chain leadership roles within a health system is essential to ensuring that health commodities get to the people who need them.

Logistics is a topic that often goes unmentioned during high-level discussions on HIV strategy, however implications of all strategies on the supply chain of essential HIV commodities must be carefully considered in order to achieve success.